


Karma

by Anonymous



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Body Horror, Dean Winchester In Danger, Depressed Dean Winchester, Emotionally Hurt Dean Winchester, Gen, Grace Form!Cas, Hurt Castiel (Supernatural), Hurt Dean Winchester, Possessed Castiel (Supernatural), Protective Castiel (Supernatural), Rescue, Revenge, Tortured Castiel (Supernatural), Vore, Worried Dean Winchester, Worried Sam Winchester, encasement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 20:22:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20014261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: The devil is possessing Castiel.Dean is breaking himself trying to find a way to rescue their angel.Sam is trying to find a way to savebothof them while still helping people who need it.But he doesn’t know that the consquences of his last hunt are about to catch up to them, and Dean will be the one to suffer for it.





	Karma

**Author's Note:**

> Some additional content warning just in case....
> 
> Dean is cocooned by a creature so that its eggs have something to feed on when they hatch. Even before this, he was not in a good place after finding out Lucifer had control of Cas.
> 
> Meanwhile Lucifer is torturing Cas as punishment for saving Sam, and when he intervenes again for Dean, that just makes it worse.
> 
> Please be aware there is confinement, impeded breathing, panic, depression, and animal attack scenes in this story, as well as Cas taking the brunt of Lucifer’s viciousness.

There were so many stacks of books on the table that Sam only knew Dean was seated behind them because he could hear his brother cursing angrily.

“Dean,” he said, but his brother just held up his hand, silencing him.

Sam sighed. Since they’d found out Lucifer was possessing Cas, and the devil had taken off in their best friend’s body, Dean had been out of control. He’d hit up every witch and demon they had on speed dial, sent out a call for help through the hunter network, and was threatening Crowley on a nearly hourly basis.

Someone had to know a way to find Lucifer. And someone had to know a way to kick him out of Cas.

Because it was pretty clear Cas couldn’t do it alone; the close call in the library had proven that, with Cas barely able to hold Lucifer back from killing him, Sam, right against the pillar.

But even with them both speed reading their way through the Letters’ archive, so far they hadn’t found any way to deal with the situation, and Dean was slipping further and further into depression.

Sam got it, he did; he had first hand experience of the damage Lucifer could do once he got inside you, and he woke up at night in a cold sweat thinking about how badly Cas was suffering.

And that his worst nightmare was now, once more, walking the Earth. 

But this...this wasn’t helping. Dean was barely eating, sleeping only when Sam put a sedative in his coffee or beer on the sly, something that Dean would figure out eventually, and Sam had tried to reason with him...that when, _when_ , they got Cas back, he would likely need some serious looking after and they both had to be strong and ready for that.

Dean seemed stuck on getting him back, though, and Sam could read into that, which made it hurt all the more: that either Dean didn’t believe they could save Cas, despite the effort he was putting in to finding a way, or that when they did rescue Cas, he was going to kick him out of their lives.

He remembered how Dean had been with him after the civil war in Heaven, how he’d left Cas behind in that mental hospital; how he’d treated Cas over the tablet and where that had led them all to.

It seemed like the more Dean loved you, the crueller he could be, all because he still, after all these years, didn’t know how to handle his anger and his fear.

John’s true legacy.

Which wasn’t to say he wasn’t angry at Cas himself, but right then he just wanted their angel home (and when they got Cas home, Sam was going to make sure Cas stayed there, and knew that throwing himself on a grenade was not how they were going to deal with things like this from now on in).

In the meantime, though, people were still in trouble; hunters needed help, especially if the Winchesters were relying on them for help in turn to find their missing angel.

He’d packed Dean’s duffel, hoping another hunt, like the one with the wrestlers, would haul Dean part way out of the pit he’d lost himself in, but he could see now Dean wouldn’t be interested.

“Cas comes first,” he said, when Sam had finished explaining.

“I know,” Sam said, annoyed at the suggestion he was putting anybody else in front of their family. “But Dean, you’ve been at this for days, we both have, and we’ve got nothing. Maybe...Maybe the answer just isn’t in these books.”

Dean didn’t look up. “It’s not out there ganking some giant worm thing. Or what is it this time?”

“Maybe a ghoul. I don’t know, yet, Dean. But I could probably use some help.”

“So could Cas.”

He didn’t say anything else, barely looked up as Sam grabbed his own bag and headed upstairs to the garage, got in one of the cars and headed out.

++

_The tall human, the **murderer** , his stink was everywhere over this place, and it watched him from the dark corners, the tight tunnels in the walls, waiting for an opportunity,_

_But there was another here, and what it wanted to do would take time, and that meant getting the human alone._

_It couldn’t stay hidden from them forever, and it was surprised it hadn’t been discovered already._

_Something was wrong, it could tell that, it could feel it, and maybe that was why they hadn’t noticed its presence, no matter how good it was at staying out of sight._

_And then the tall one left. It raged, sure now it’d have no chance at revenge, because it couldn’t stay here for much longer and who knew when he’d return?_

_But then it realised the other human was still here. And its stink was similar to the taller male. Siblings, it realised, bitterly. Family._

_Well. By the time the other hunter returned, it’d be done, and he would know the pain when something brutally took someone you cared about._

++

Dean gave up just after midnight, eyes aching, vision blurring so bad he couldn’t read.

His head hurt so bad that even the muscles of his neck and back were throbbing in time, and he headed straight to the bathroom and opened up the medicine cabinet.

He grabbed the strongest painkillers they had, popped a couple in his mouth, and drank straight from the faucet to wash them down.

He’d be out probably in around fifteen minutes, but before that happened, he still had to check the place was locked down.

Sam’s insistence, just in case Lucifer decided to come visiting again.

As he made sure the new adjustments to the wards were still in place (ones they’re argued over, because who knew the effect it would have on the rest of the warding, on what else could come and go, even if right then Sam felt Lucifer was their greatest threat), Dean was tempted to dial them down.

Because maybe that was the answer. Get Lucifer back here, reach out to Cas, persuade him to kick the fucker out.

Yeah, he knew what Sam had said, how Cas had used up all his strength in just holding Lucifer back from killing him, but that just proved Cas was holding on in there.

And maybe seeing that Lucifer still wanted them dead would boost Cas enough into expelling the devil.

Even if he needed help, Dean would provide it. He’d find a way to save that stupid son of a bitch, and then he’d kick his ass for doing such a dumbfuck thing in the first place.

 _I wanted to be of service_.

They had to end up with the dumbest angel in the garrison, that was for sure, and Dean was going to make sure when they finally got him back that he knew just because he’d hooked up with the Winchester family didn’t mean he had to toe the family line.

Doing mad sacrifices was for him and Sam, though Dean was damned if he’d let his little brother do that again.

Or Cas.

Once this was over, he’d make sure they both knew it. 

But for now, he was near dead on his feet, and Sam was right: when they got Cas back, who knew what state he’d be in. Getting him well again (in and out) might be just as big a battle as rescuing him from possession.

But Dean was determined to win both fights, and that meant he needed to be fit.

He turned off the lights and staggered to his room before he barely managed to change into a tee and sleep shorts.

And then he was out.

++

_Now._

_It elongated its length along the narrow tunnel, and pushed at the slatted frame blocking the way._

_That came loose, and fell with a clatter, and it froze. But no one came to check._

_No one seemed to notice._

_Which was odd, because the room the other human had gone into was only a short distance away._

_Perhaps he was asleep. It knew humans needed rest, and the one who’d stayed behind hadn’t seemed to take as much as the brother._

_Either way, it didn’t loiter. It stretched carefully down to the floor, and then crawled down the passage until it came to the room._

_The door was ajar, and it pushed through, opening it further, before rearing up to look._

_The human was on top of a bed, eyes closed, breathing deeply._

_He didn’t seem to register its presence, even when it moved closer, and carefully shifted up beside him._

_Even when it touched him, ready to act if he showed any sign of waking, there was only a grumbled response, and the merest change in his position._

_It lay there for a while, watching him, feeling the tiny movements inside its own body that told it time was running out._

_Shuddering, it released the first strands from its form, and inched closer to the sleeping human._.

++

He was too hot.

Dean awoke sharply, feeling like he couldn’t breath, like the whole damn bunker had shrunk around him.

He panted, wondering if he’d done something stupid, like took too many pills, but he was sure he hadn’t.

Maybe it had been a nightmare, or maybe he’d run himself so low these past few days that he was actually sick, or getting there.

Dammit. He didn’t have time for that, not with Cas out there in Lucifer’s grip. The longer it took to get him back, the less chance there’d be enough of him to save, but even if there was _anything_...

It wasn’t that.

Dean tried to reach up, to wipe the sweat from his face, and realised he couldn’t move.

And that the heat, the darkness that he only now realised was too deep to just be from all the bunker lights being switched off, was because something was wrapped around him.

He took a breath, grateful at least he could do that, and pushed his hands against whatever was surrounding him.

For all he knew, he’d wrapped himself up in his blankets during the night, so tight that he’d practically cocooned himself.

But the material around him wasn’t wool. It was soft, to a point, but when Dean pushed harder, it seemed to push back, like a tarpaulin sheet pulled taut.

And he barely had enough room to move, barely enough to struggle; what the fuck was going on?

“Sam? Hey? Hello?”

But Sam was gone on that hunt, and not likely to be back for two days, but clearly Dean was no longer alone in the bunker.

Something touched the outside of the...the cocoon, he had to face it… and he jerked away as far as he could, which wasn’t much.

What the hell was this thing?

“Get away!”

But it didn’t listen; there was a moment of intense pressure around his feet, and then he felt something slick pulsing against him.

It was as if the cocoon was suddenly being pumped full of a liquid, but in it he could feel odd shapes, like bubbles made of gel, and the tacky sensation made him breathe harder, nausea gripping him.

He pushed it away, kicked his legs, wriggled as hard as he could, but the liquid just came higher, coating him, and fuck he was going to drown in here-

It stopped just above his waist, leaving him panting in panic, and then the pressure around his feet was gone.

All he could hear was the blood racing through his veins, his heart pounding in fear.

“Sam!” Maybe his brother was back, maybe not, but there was nothing else Dean could do.

And then the bed shifted, but nothing touched him or moved him, though he strained to pick up the slightest sound or sensation of something coming closer again.

There was nothing, and Dean spent the next while struggling against the wall of his prison, panicking a little when he accidentally pushed his face against it, and shook his head frantically to get enough space to breathe again.

Whatever this was, if this was as bad as it got, he’d survive it. He could wait it out, because then Sam would be back, and he’d cut him out of this thing, and they’d kill whatever had put him in here.

Two days, Sam had said he’d be gone, and Dean was sure a chunk of that time had gone already.

He could do this. Sam would come for him.

++  
_  
Once it was done, once its eggs were in place, and the cocoon sealed up again, it thumped down onto the floor._

_Its body was already beginning to break down; within a few hours all that would be left was an empty shell, but that was the way of their species._

_Just as finding a human to help with the process was, what its mate had been doing when the taller human had killed it._

_But his brother would do as well; a warm body to hatch around, and then an immediate food source so they could grow strong enough to swarm away._

_If more food was required, they could feast on what was left of it, and then they could escape this place as it had entered._

_And the cycle would begin again._

_It tried to imagine the sight that would await the other human when he returned, wished it would be alive to witness that moment._

_But it took comfort in imagining, just as it took comfort listening to the cocooned human’s struggles, and the sounds he made when the eggs started to hatch._

__  
++  
It hurt. Everything hurt, it was endless, Lucifer’s rage searing him like a fire made of his wrath, but it didn’t matter.

He was being punished for protecting Sam, and it was worth it, just as saving Dean by saying yes had been worth it.

In all his existence, though he loved the entirety of humanity for their frail wonder and sheer spirit, he had never encountered any humans he had loved and cherished as much as those brothers. While he knew they would be furious with him for what he’d done, keeping them alive and safe was worth it.

Except…

Dean wasn’t safe, right them.

Cas could hear his screams, terrified, and it was hard to focus as his brother splintered his bones, took his Grace between his hands and squeezed, but he reached out and…

No.

Something…. Dean was surrounded, imprisoned in something Cas didn’t recognise, pain making it too hard to think, to focus his memories, but he could see Dean struggling, fighting to get free, and not all of the movements inside that casing were his own.

Sam, where was Sam?

Not there, Cas knew, because otherwise Sam would have come running to rescue his brother.

And if Sam wasn’t there, Dean had no chance.

It was risky; Lucifer was distracted with the torture he was inflicting, the bitter joy of it, so unlikely to notice, but all the same his older brother was not a fool.

And redirecting even the small amount of Grace needed to act could mean the end of him, leaving Lucifer in sole control of his body.

But then he’d never meant to survive this, only to hold on long enough to try and rein his brother in where the Winchesters were concerned, and do whatever else he could (likely not much) in the fight to stop Amara.

Dean was worth it, if it did mean his end.

And so he reached out, the warding on the bunker recognising and admitting his Grace, and he raced through the corridors, into Dean’s room and he ripped away the substance confining him.

Dean spilled out of it, bleeding and breathless, and the creatures that had started to bite, to feed, Cas eliminated in a blaze of power.

The one on the floor was already dead, no threat, and Cas settled over Dean, providing healing and whatever comfort he could.

“C-cas?”

He settled the hunter as best he could, and withdrew, aching at how Dean reached for him, but Lucifer knew, and-

He was wrenched away, cold hands gripping hold of him, and the last thing he was able to do, before his brother hauled him back into his (their) body, but was to reach out to Sam and tell him he had to go home.

++

Sam broke every speed limit there was as he raced back to the bunker. He didn’t know why he had a sudden compulsion to go home, why he was so sure something was wrong back there, but it was too powerful to ignore.

Especially when he’d tried ringing Dean’s cell a few times and got no reply.

So maybe Dean had gotten drunk.

Maybe he’d exhausted himself so much he was just too tired to hear his phone.

Maybe he’d run down the battery and just forgotten to charge it again.

Or maybe something was really wrong, and…

“Sam.”

Sam nearly dropped the phone, he was so surprised at suddenly hearing Dean’s voice. “Dean, what the hell, are you okay?”

Just that moment of hesitation gave him his answer. “Are you okay _right now_? Do you need to get out of the bunker?”

“I...no, I’m okay just now...somebody came and they helped…. Sam, I think it was…”

Cas.

In his panic, Sam hadn’t noticed but now he did, that he knew the cool, safe feeling of Cas’s Grace, his presence.

He didn’t know what had happened, but he’d find out. Once he got home.

“I’ll be there in a few hours,” he told Dean. “Just hold on, okay?”

And, though he wasn’t sure Cas could hear them, he sent a prayer to their angel telling him the same thing.

++

Lucifer left Cas alone for a while after that. He was no fun to torture when he was unconscious, and he didn’t want to kill him after all.

That would spoil everything.

So, while his little brother lay in a broken and bloody mess, Lucifer decided he might as well go home, and see what the rest of his brethren had done to the place.

And then...well, then he had to find his dear old auntie Amara.

Then kill the bitch.

Yes, the next few days were going to be busy.


End file.
